Development Musical Concepts Gratification Reading Music Why Study Piano? OK, I understand the importance of piano and I am ready to start my child on.... PIANO VOICE AN INSTRUMENT

DEVELOPMENT

A good music education will improve the student's physical and mental development in many areas, but the piano allows for greater success at early points in development than other instruments. Starting a student on piano allows the student to gain significant musical knowledge and important muscle development prior to undertaking the more complex demands of a string or wind instrument and therefore greater success as well as faster progress will result.

Holding: The mechanism of the piano (depressing keys) is simple and manageable for very young hands and fingers. The student does not have to hold anything while playing piano, and can sit at a bench adjusted to the correct height. Many instruments can be very difficult or impossible for very young hands to hold:

1) Wind instruments are often TOO LARGE to hold.
2) The keys on wind instruments are too far apart to reach.
3) Holding the bow and fingering a string instrument (violin, viola, cello, bass) is very difficult.

Making a Sound: The first time a student depresses a key on the piano, a sound is produced that is recognizable and pleasant. Just to produce a recognizable sound on other instruments may take several weeks to months:

1) FLUTE: Blowing across the mouthpiece of the flute correctly to produce a tone (and not the sound of blowing air) takes many weeks. The student cannot proceed to fingering or learning any music until this basic skill is mastered.
2) CLARINET/OBOE: Reed instruments produce a sound more readily, but it takes months before the lips have the strength to support the air pressure (embouchure) needed to produce a good and continuous sound.
3) BRASS: Blowing a brass instrument is similar to the flute in that the lips must be able to generate a clear vibrating sound from just the mouthpiece (for brass it is a buzz), before any music can be learned.
4) STRINGS: Keeping the bow straight and even, not hitting other strings, while drawing it across the string is a difficult skill and a beginning string player will be "scratchy" for many years.

Dexterity: Although a pianist will require years to develop correct finger dexterity and technique, at least when depressed the keys will make the correct sound. On the piano, fingers play notes individually and in a logical sequence (up or down according to the keys).

1) Wind instruments require significant strength to hold the keys down solidly so that the sound is the correct pitch and not raspy.
2) Wind instruments require unusual finger patterns for each note, often not in a logical sequence and often in a difficult shape for young hands to match.
3) The finger motions on string instruments are very complex, involving holding and lifting in multiple combinations of finger patterns. Inability to finger the instrument correctly results in notes very out of tune and a scratchy timbre which can be completely unrecognizable and unpleasant.

Left-Right Coordination: All instruments require coordination of the left and right hands, some to a greater degree than others. The piano requires these same skills, but beginning piano method books teach the hands to play separately - which is not an option on most instruments. On the piano, coordination is developed very slowly and carefully, and on most instruments it is required from the very beginning.

Eye-Hand Coordination: Playing a musical instrument requires developing careful eye-hand coordination in that reading music means translating the musical symbols into specific actions of the finger, hand and arms. This kind of coordination develops at different rates in all children, and most children under age 7 can have great difficulty coordinating what the eye sees with actual hand motions. The simplicity of the piano mechanism allows the student possibility to play successfully as this crucial skill develops.

Sensativity to Sound: The ability to recognize the qualities of sound develops at different rates in all children, and a music education is required for that sensativity to include degrees of loudness (dynamic), pitch and sound qualities. An in-tune piano produces the correct pitch whenever the key is depressed and this is far from true for other instruments, where the student must place fingers correctly or adjust the mouth to make the correct notes sound. A beginning piano student can play a recognizable "Merry Had a Little Lamb" within a few lessons, but this same tune can be entirely unrecognizable when played by a beginning violin student even after a whole year of lessons. Two years of piano exposes the student to what music should sound like, so that when the student first attempts a "Merry Had a Little Lamb" on the violin or flute, she or he can tell if it is out of tune and therefore make the correct adjustments in pitch more easily.

Tactile Sensativity: With most instruments, piano included, the quality of sound produced is a result of the finger's sensativity to playing the instrument. How fast and how much pressure are difficult muscle controls to learn, and make a big difference in how an instrument sounds. On the piano, this tactile sensativity affects how beautiful the music sounds, but usually not the basic sound of the instrument (intonation and timbre). On other instruments, tactile sensativity affects pitch and timbre so significantly that the instrument sounds horribly out of tune or so scrathy as to be painful. The simple action of drawing a bow across the violin with a single continuous motion that creates a pleasant continuous sound actually takes years to master.

IN SUMMARY: Two years of piano gives the student a solid grounding in reading music, hearing what music should sound like, and developing important muscle skills that will make the transition to another instrument much easier in the long run. On the piano the student will gain more immediate gratification in learning and playing songs and pieces that are recognizable, meaningful and enjoyable. If the student starts on a non-piano instrument, more than a year can go by before the student produces a sound that is decent and can play a song that is recognizable and not out of tune.